NAB League 2018: Sandringham Dragons make 18 changes, suffer 16-point loss

Tom Grant, the son of former Saint David, made his debut at Under 18 level as the Dragons fell to a slick Oakleigh Chargers.

When the NAB League teams were released last Thursday, eyes were drawn to the Sandringham Dragons.

The ins? 19.

The outs? 16.

With a list of 75 players — and many of them involved in school football — the Dragons are used to having to recast their side from week to week.

As it was, on Saturday against the Oakleigh Chargers they made 18 changes from the previous round, with a bunch of players from the St Bede’s College ACC premiership line-up rested.

Still, the Dragons looked strong on paper and coach Josh Bourke was disappointed with the 18-point loss, 8.10 (58) to 4.16 (40), at a cold and breezy Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

“Yeah, we had a fair upheaval,’’ Bourke said.

“I didn’t know how good we had it at Dandenong, where six changes was a lot.

“At the same time, internally we don’t get distracted by it. That’s just the reality of our program.

“To be truthful, we were pretty poor. We’ve got a bit of work to do in the back end of the year. It’s probably been a poor five weeks. We’ve wriggled out way out of a couple of games but we certainly haven’t played the way we like to for a while.

Dragon Luke Cleary under pressure.

“They (the Chargers) were better than us. They spread us really well with their offence and we struggled to catch up. They’ve got some really talented 17-year-olds who played well. They were very good.

“I think going forward we’ll have a really strong focus on getting back to playing our way, and that’s based around our strength of ball movement. We’ve had that taken away from us

for a while now. Sides are shutting us down. When we don’t move the footy quickly we’re not that good.’’

The Dragons gave a debut to bottom-age player and Mentone Grammar student Tom Grant, the son of worthy former St Kilda defender David.

He played at half back on the wing.

“He can do some stuff. He’s a good athletic type and we think there’s some upside to him. He’s got some development to go,’’ Bourke noted.

Tyson Milne and Jackson Voss, the sons of two other former Saints, were again in the best players.

Hugo Ralphsmith, with a point to prove after being left out of the Vic Metro Under 18 team, was a strong contributor as an inside midfielder, collecting 23 possessions.

Sandringham Dragons 1.3, 2.8, 3.8, 4.16 (40)

Oakleigh Chargers 1.4, 1.5, 7.8, 8.10 (58)

Dragons goals: A. Perkins, J. Le Grice, J. Florent, C. Dean

Best: J. Le Grice, T. Milne, N. Burke, J. Lloyd, H. Ralphsmith, J. Voss